It has been known that product dispensing coils rotatable around horizontal axes are provided for dispensing product packages, e.g., candies or other snacks. The product packages are located individually between turns of the dispensing coil on a horizontal tray. The product packages are dispensed by the stepped rotation of the coils. Such a means is for example described in the older patent application No. 196 31 931. The dispensing coils are not very suitable for dispensing bottles or cans.
Vertical stacking shafts are usually provided in vending machines for bottles or cans, because this leads to a high storage capacity. Such product shafts are described in, e.g., DE 29 16 694 C2, DE 36 08 942 A1, and the older patent applications 196 06 056 and 196 14 915, especially concerning the dispensing mechanism. Because of the different shapes of the stacking shafts, on the one hand, and of the dispensing coils, on the other hand, separate vending machines are usually set up for bottles or cans, on the one hand, and for "snacks," e.g., candies, on the other hand.
A vending machine from which product packages (snacks) and beverage bottles or cans can be sold is desirable.
A vending machine from which product packages and cans can be sold has been commercially available. The area in which product packages that can be dispensed via dispensing coils and the area in which cans are accommodated are horizontally separated in this vending machine; the areas are consequently located one on top of another. This is unfavorable, because the area accommodating the cans is lower as a result than the product-accommodating height of the vending machine. This leads to a low storage capacity for cans, because the advantage of the prior-art stacking shafts cannot be utilized. It is also unfavorable that a changeover of the vending machine from the dispensing of more product packages to be dispensed via dispensing coils to fewer cans and vice versa is difficult and requires a considerable amount of work for conversion and a large number of new components. Consequently, there is no variability in practice in the splitting of the product storage space of the vending machine between product packages, on the one hand, and cans, on the other hand.